Premium
Immigrants as crime victims: Experiences of personal nonfatal victimization
Author(s) -
Wheeler Krista,
Zhao Weiyan,
Kelleher Kelly,
Stallones Lorann,
Xiang Huiyun
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20820
Subject(s) - medicine , immigration , marital status , demography , injury prevention , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , poison control , logistic regression , odds , environmental health , population , geography , archaeology , pathology , sociology
Background Immigrants to the United States are disproportionately victims of homicide mortality in and outside the workplace. Examining their experiences with nonfatal victimization may be helpful in understanding immigrant vulnerability to violence. Methods We compared the annual prevalence of nonfatal personal victimization experienced by immigrant and US‐born adults by sociodemographics, employment, occupation, industry, smoking, alcohol and drug use using data from Wave 1 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Results The prevalence of victimization among immigrants was comparable to that among US‐born adults [3.84% (95% CI: 3.18–4.63) vs. 4.10% (95% CI: 3.77–4.44)]. Lower percentages of victimization experienced by immigrants were seen among the unmarried, those age 30–44 years, and among residents of central city areas as compared to those groups among the US‐born. For immigrants entering the US as youth, the victimization prevalence declines with greater years of residency in US. Multivariate logistic regression models suggest that, the odds of victimization was significantly associated with age, family income, marital status, central city residency, smoking, and drug use while employment status was not a significant factor. Immigrant workers with farming/forestry occupations might face a higher risk of being victims of violence than their US‐born counterparts. Conclusions The prevalence of victimization among immigrants was comparable to that among US‐born adults. Employment status and industry/occupation overall were not significant risk factors for becoming victims of violence. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:435–442, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.